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Robert Windham
| birth_place = Sweetwater, Texas | death_date = | death_place = | resides = | billed = | trainer = Joe Blanchard Dory Funk, Sr. Verne Gagne | debut = 1969 | retired = 1987 }} Robert Jack Windham (November 26, 1942 - April 7, 2016), better known by his ring name Blackjack Mulligan was a former professional wrestler and a former American football player. He is the father of wrestlers Barry and Kendall Windham, father-in-law of Mike Rotunda and the grandfather of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas. Career As a young man, Windham played football at Texas Western College, now known as the University of Texas at El Paso. He then went on to play for the New York Jets during the 1966 pre-season and received tryouts with the New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos. After football, at the urging of Wahoo McDaniel, Windham trained with Joe Blanchard in Corpus Christi, Texas and later with Verne Gagne and became a professional wrestler in the American Wrestling Association. He then moved to the World Wide Wrestling Federation and became the villain Blackjack Mulligan. At first Mulligan, donning black trunks, black hat, black glove, and using the iron claw submission hold, seemed to be an imitation of AWA wrestler Blackjack Lanza, managed by The Grand Wizard. Mulligan went on to greater success in the Northeast. He received a push and went on to wrestle Pedro Morales and Bruno Sammartino. Mulligan returned to the Midwest and tagged with Lanza to form The Blackjacks. The duo went on to capture numerous tag team championships in various NWA affiliated promotions as well as the WWWF World Tag Team Championship in August 1975. Blackjack returned to singles wrestling in the Jim Crockett Promotions where he would go onto hold the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship and the Mid-Atlantic's version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Ric Flair. Mulligan often battled Andre the Giant, feuding in many different regions in the early 1980s. When they brought their feud to the WWF in 1982, Windham was noted as saying Andre had no limit to his strength. Mulligan would go onto wrestle in Florida as a face. He often teamed with West Texas stars Dusty Rhodes, Dick Murdoch, and his son Barry Windham. In 1986, Mulligan wrestled under a mask as "Big Machine," part of a team with "The Giant Machine" (Andre the Giant) and "Super Machine" (Bill Eadie) collectively known as The Machines. The Machines were wildly popular, winning several high-profile matches against the Heenan family, recruiting members such as Hulk Machine and Piper Machine; the angle was ten years ahead of its time, being comparable to the NWO angle of the 90's. Later on, Jack travelled to Dallas and competed in World Class Championship Wrestling, as a heel, wrestling against Bruiser Brody, Chris Adams and Kevin and Lance Von Erich. Mulligan and his son Kendall were in trouble with the law for counterfeiting charges in 1989 and were sentenced to jail-time. Mulligan and his Blackjacks partner, Jack Lanza were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006 by their manager, Bobby Heenan. Wrestling facts *'Finishing and signature moves' :*Lariat :*The Claw *'Tag teams and stables' :*The Blackjacks - with Blackjack Lanza :*Heenan Family :*The Machines *'Managers' :*Captain Lou Albano (WWWF) *'Wrestlers trained' :*Barry Windham :*Mike Barton :*Molly McShane :*Raymond Snow Championships and accomplishments *'Championship Wrestling From Florida' :*NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Champion (2 time) :*NWA Florida Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Dusty Rhodes :*NWA Florida United States Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Dusty Rhodes *'International Wrestling Enterprise' :*IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Larry Hennig *'Jim Crockett Promotions' :*NWA United States Heavyweight Champion (4 time) :*NWA World Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Ric Flair *'NWA Western States Sports :*NWA International Heavyweight Champion (''Amarillo version) (2 time) :*NWA Western States Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Dick Murdoch *'World Class Wrestling Association' :*NWA American Heavyweight Championship (1 time) :*NWA American Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Blackjack Lanza :*NWA Texas Heavyweight Champion (1 time) :*NWA Texas Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Blackjack Lanza *'World Wide Wrestling Federation' :*WWWF Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Blackjack Lanza *'World Wrestling Association (Indianapolis)' :*WWA World Heavyweight Champion (1 time) :*WWA World Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Blackjack Lanza See also *Robert Windham's event history External links * WWE.com Profile * Robert Windham profile at CAGEMATCH.net * Profile de:Blackjack Mulligan Category:American wrestlers Category:WWE Hall of Fame inductees Category:American Wrestling Association alumni Category:Championship Wrestling From Florida alumni Category:Jim Crockett Promotions alumni Category:Maple Leaf Wrestling alumni Category:New Japan Pro Wrestling alumni Category:St. Louis Wrestling Club alumni Category:World Championship Wrestling alumni Category:World Class Wrestling Association alumni Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni Category:World Wrestling Association alumni Category:National Wrestling Alliance alumni Category:Professional Wrestling Federation alumni Category:Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Central States Wrestling alumni Category:Georgia Championship Wrestling alumni Category:All Japan Pro Wrestling alumni Category:Rotunda family Category:WWE Hall of Fame Category:WWE World Tag Team Champions Category:Windham family Category:International Wrestling alumni Category:NWA Big Time Wrestling alumni Category:NWA Western States Sports alumni Category:2016 deaths Category:Wrestlers who have died Category:1942 births Category:Male wrestlers